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Human Rights & Democracy

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Human Rights & Democracy

Teaser Video HR70

EU launches campaign to celebrate

70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 

70 years - Universal Declaration of Human rights

The promotion and protection of human rights is at the heart of multilateralism, a central pillar of the UN system, and a core and founding value of the EU.

This year we mark the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and join UN Human Rights in inviting everyone to

 

#Standup4humanrights.

 

The Universal Declaration is the cornerstone of international human rights law and its first article captures its very essence:

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights".

Human rights should be universal, indivisible and interdependent.

While the international human rights system has come under increasing pressure, it still continues to show great resilience to withstand challenges.

Human Rights Defenders all over the world embody that resilience. These are some of their stories.

The EU stands up and continues to relentlessly support human rights defenders, to speak out against the shrinking civil society space, and to use political and financial action to support them.

They stood up, will you?

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The European Union views all human rights as universal, indivisible and interdependent. It actively promotes and defends them both within its borders and when engaging in relations with non-EU countries.

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News stories

Mogherini stresses EU-UN multilateral approach based on common interests and values

"There is a ‘European way’ towards peace and security, which is identical to the ‘UN way’ towards peace and security. It is a path built on mediation and peacekeeping operations, on sustainable development and the protection of human rights, on humanitarian aid and on building and respecting shared rules," EU High Representative Federica Mogherini said, addressing the UN Security Council (UNSC) in New York on 12 March 2019.

Thursday, 14 March, 2019 - 14:28
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News stories
Syrian women

Syrian women, agents for change

"The situation of women has been better during the conflict than before, despite the war… during the peaceful protests in 2011, the voice of women became equal to that of men and the revolution was an opportunity to demand more rights for women", says Ghaliya Al Rahal, a Syrian women's rights activist and director of a network of centres for women empowerment in Northern Syria.

Wednesday, 13 March, 2019 - 11:54
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News stories
gender equality

EU rings a bell for gender equality

Equality is a core value of the European Union, and a principle we will keep fighting for. Equality between women and men is no exception.

Friday, 8 March, 2019 - 11:30
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News stories

Mogherini welcomes Malaysia's support for the International Criminal Court

The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini has welcomed Malaysia’s accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which she says "confirms its commitment to strengthen the rule of law, human rights, and accountability domestically and internationally."

Tuesday, 5 March, 2019 - 17:06
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News stories

Mogherini: We moved beyond the idea of 'an eye for an eye' - we believe in justice, not revenge

Randy Steidl was sentenced to death in Illinois in the 1980s. He spent 12 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. In 2003, the Governor of Illinois commuted all death sentences into life sentences, and only after that, Randy managed to prove his innocence and to be released. As a free man, he campaigned for a complete abolition of the death penalty in his State, and success arrived just a few years later. "We need to tell and to listen to these stories, and through them, we need to work to change the culture and the mind-set of those who still support the death penalty," said EU High Representative Federica Mogherini during her opening speech at the 7th World Congress Against the Death Penalty.

Thursday, 28 February, 2019 - 15:26
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